Ken Hardie

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, what we have heard so far tonight is that we need demonstrated action and measurable results. I have also heard tonight that there are 28 safe consumption sites in Canada. My guess is that tens of thousands of people have used these sites over the last number of years, and we know of the statistic that 1,100 have suffered overdoses there, but have been saved. That no one has died as a result of safe consumption sites is a signal that maybe action there has at least paid some dividends.

We have 28 safe consumption sites now. What have we done since 2015 to produce these results?

[Opioid Crisis in Canada, December 10th, 2018]

Mr. Chair, I heard the hon. member mention they had two murders in Barrie and 36 deaths through fentanyl and opioids. I would submit that he has had 38 murders.

Also, as we look at real solutions going forward, a strategy that applies right across the country to deal with this issue, I would submit for the hon. member that one of the first places we should look at is in his province. His premier has put new harm reduction facilities on hold while they look at “the merits” of this kind of approach. This is an odd country. We have provincial jurisdiction and federal jurisdiction. Far too often it is the federal government that is asked to rush in with money, as though that is the answer to everything. However, part of it is policy and policy tainted by ideology will not get us ahead. Could the member comment on that?

[The Environment, November 2nd, 2018]

Madam Speaker, our government knows the importance of taking action to protect our species and wildlife. That is why this week we are taking unprecedented new measures to further help the recovery of B.C. southern resident killer whales. The new measures include $143 million invested in critical steps to protect this west coast icon.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment please further explain the steps the government is taking to protect our southern resident killer whales?

[Rail Transportation, October 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians rely on safe and reliable rail systems, and so do the constituents and businesses in our riding. From my riding in British Columbia to the province of Nova Scotia, our government is always working to improve safety on our rails and for those living near them.

Could the hon. Minister of Transport inform this House of our government's most recent initiatives regarding rail safety?

[Tourism, June 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, with summer right around the corner, I know families from coast to coast to coast are planning to load up the car and travel our beautiful country to visit family or maybe one of our national parks. This summer's tourism season will be even busier because of the Canada-China year of tourism, bringing more tourists from China to Canada than ever before.

In my riding of Fleetwood—Port Kells, I know operators are excited about the new markets from which tourists are visiting Canada.

Could the Minister of Small Business and Tourism give the House an update on the progress of the Canada-China year of tourism?

[Fisheries Act, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, a couple of times in this debate, we have had members of the opposite side say that at no time during our witness testimony did we hear any evidence of any damage as a result of the changes that were made back in 2012. It may not have come up during those deliberations, but we just heard, courtesy of our friend from Vancouver Island, the kinds of damages that could take place and many more may have been observed but not recorded because nobody was breaking the law and indeed thanks to cuts there were not necessarily the enforcement officers or others to even keep an eye on it.

However, the essence of this review of the Fisheries Act goes right to the point that our friend from the Prairies was making. We heard from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities about the hurdles that people had to jump through to get even a culvert rebuilt or a bridge repaired. I personally and many of my colleagues agreed that not dialling that back to the pre-2012 regulations would mark an improvement, would help to modernize the act. The other thing that came along, though, and it goes back to some earlier comments about the involvement of indigenous people, was more of a focus on indigenous knowledge and indigenous participation in helping to monitor the health of our waterways. I wonder if my friend across the way would consider both those developments as useful modernization of the act.

[Fisheries Act, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, sitting on the fisheries committee, I had an opportunity to question many of the witnesses who came in as we looked at aspects of the changes that were made back in 2012 versus the gaps that people perceived. Notwithstanding my friend's comments about consultation, when I asked a panel of people from industry, particularly industry on the Prairies, in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, they certainly agreed they had been consulted. However, we consistently asked members of the indigenous community what kind of consultation they had been involved in, and they consistently told us that they had not been consulted. Not only that, during the course of our hearings we were constantly challenged by the Conservative members about accepting submissions from indigenous groups who had prepared material with financial assistance from the department for other purposes.

It was very clear that during our most recent deliberations they were not interested in hearing that input from indigenous communities, and it would not appear that they very actively sought it out when they did their process. I am wondering if my friend could comment on those reflections.

[Fisheries Act, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the standing committee. We looked very hard at the changes the previous government made to the Fisheries Act to understand what it was trying to achieve, to keep the things that obviously made sense, and to make adjustments where we saw problems.

One problem came up from the previous legislation, and I wanted to hear the member's comments on this. The previous legislation provided protection to fish that were important commercially, to the recreational fishery, and to first nations. However, it left open the possibility that if something happened and a stock collapsed and was no longer a viable piece of any of those three activities, it would in fact no longer be protected. It would actually fall off the table. Perhaps that is what we would have seen, for instance, with northern cod, as a good example.

Can the hon. member comment on a change he would make to try to prevent that scenario from playing out?

[Committees of the House, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the second report I wish to present to the House, in both official languages, is the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans entitled, “Main Estimates 2018-19: Votes 1, 5 and 10 under Department of Fisheries and Oceans”.

[Committees of the House, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have two items to present today.

First, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans entitled, “"Healthy Oceans, Vibrant Coastal Communities: Strengthening The Oceans Act’s Marine Protected Areas Establishment Process".

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.